This document summarizes the common character types found in horror films according to Vladimir Propp's theories. It outlines 5 main character types that usually appear: 1) The villain who struggles against the hero, 2) The donor who prepares the hero, 3) The magical helper who helps the hero, 4) The princess/father who gives the hero a task, and 5) The hero or victim. However, in horror films the villain typically wins instead of the hero. The hero is often killed or possessed by the end to shock the audience. Examples of different villain and hero representations are provided.

1. HORROR FILM
Character narrative comes from the theory of Vladimir Propp who figured out that every film
follows certain ways of how to present the films. Within the characters of films Propp realised
there are 7 character types that are always used in the story line:
However only a certain some are used in certain genres, In a horror genre the character types
used are:
1. The villain—struggles against the hero
2. The donor—prepares the hero
3. The (magical) helper—helps the hero in the quest
4. The princess and her father—gives the task to the hero
5. The hero or victim/seeker hero
However in most films a hero usually wins against the villain, as in a horror it is usually the
villain, thing or paranormal presence that wins. The hero is usually killed or possessed and
leave the audience feeling shocked and over whelmed.
The hero- This character is usually portrayed as strong and willing in the first half on a horror
film to give the audience the idea that the character will survive and win, However in the second
half or near to the end this genre usually turns on the hero and makes the character seem
vulnerable and weak. This character is always seen as a positive character although in some
cases such as in ‘the devil inside’ it can make the character seem like the villain. The
representations of a hero can usually be either male or female and usually of the ages of around
16- 50. The ethnicity is usually white however the audience of a horror film can be any ethnicity.
As well as this, the class would be any class and would enjoy the thrill of a horror as well as have
spare time.
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The villain- The villains can be any age, etc: in sinister the villains are children where as in
Friday the 13th the man is older around 30’s. This character sometimes isn’t a character and can
be a figure of the imagination or a paranormal devil or presence that the characters in the films
know is there. On the other hand it can be a monster or a series of monster that the audience
can see, for example in paranormal activity it is a figure on the imagination where as in saw, the
man is seen throughout the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYV9eCOt4Ds
The villains are always perceived as the negative ones and are always the centre of focus
in the films, they are what makes the film and are never looked up on as good character.

2. On the other hand the hero or helper can be perceived as both good and evil depending
on the storyline.
The final girl is a trope in thriller and horror films (particularly slasher films). It refers to
the last woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story.